Closed Sunday, Monday: Changing temperatures create temporary problems for Ice Castles

Warm weather leads to closure of Ice Castles in Lake Geneva

LAKE GENEVA -- With temperatures in the mid-40s Sunday, Feb. 3, many were excited to get a break from the bitter cold -- but the warmer weather was causing some problems for the Ice Castles in Lake Geneva.

"Right now, it's just unsafe for people to be in here, and safety is the first priority," said Joe Weiler, lead builder.

Joe Weiler

Inside what many have called a winter wonderland, dreams of seeing the Ice Castles in person were melting away for thousands of people.

"The last couple of days, it's made it super slippery in the castle," said Weiler.

Warmer temperatures made conditions inside dangerous. On Saturday, the castles closed early -- and on Sunday, no one would step foot inside due to safety concerns.

A FOX6 News staff member with tickets for Monday, Feb. 4 received a text message Sunday night indicating the Ice Castles would be closed on Monday.

The message read: "URGENT UPDATE: Due to weather conditions, Ice Castles will be closed tomorrow, Monday, Feb. 4th. Your tickets will be automatically refunded. You will receive an email soon with more detailed info. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this unforeseen weather challenge."

Lake Geneva Ice Castles

"We till it up every morning, and just hundreds of people being on the snow -- it kind of turns it to a sheet of ice, which is what we don't want," said Weiler.

Tickets for the weekend were sold out for quite some time. The closings meant thousands of people wouldn't have the chance to check them out. This wasn't the first time the weather has caused setbacks. On Wednesday, Jan. 30, crews shut down the castles due to the below-freezing temperatures.

"It's kind of weird that on Wednesday, we had to close because it's too cold and (Saturday) night, we had to close because it's too warm," said Weiler.

But Weiler said the warmer weather wouldn't mean the end for the Ice Castles.

"We're getting back with colder temperatures, so we'll do a little bit more building and hopefully recover pretty easily," said Weiler.

While the Ice Castles were closed Sunday, staff members said the hope was to reopen and remain open for the next couple of weeks. Officials said they hoped to reschedule or refund the people who were supposed to see the Ice Castles when they were closed.

As for Monday, workers encouraged potential visitors to check the website to see whether the Ice Castles would be open. To do so, CLICK HERE.